McCully's covert use of megaphone diplomacy

FIRST READING - VERNON SMALL

For years he has been known as McCulliavelli, as he exercised his dark arts behind the scenes in the National Party's inner sanctum.

But even in his own arcane way, it is hard to know just what Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully was trying to achieve by ramping up media interest in the diplomatic spat with Fiji.

The first question - something of a media navel-gazing issue but with wider ramifications - is why, after the Cabinet on Monday, he chose to summon two television political editors, Guyon Espiner from One News and TV3's Duncan Garner, for an off-the-record briefing on a story that had been well under the radar till then.

That gave them the chance to get the story to air for the evening news bulletins, and put their own reporters in place in Fiji. Ironically, in the case of Barbara Dreaver from One News she was detained and then deported, further inflaming the diplomatic spat rather than his stated intention; damping it down and resolving it.

On Radio New Zealand's Morning Report he was asked if he knew how this particular spat had become public.

His answer was a bit rich, given he had tipped television off: "Oh, look, in the context of the sort of discussions we've been having as a forum group over the last few weeks, particularly the meetings last week, obviously any matters of contention would be on the table and generally known about. So I think there's only so much you can do to keep these matters under control."

He went on to say the Government was trying to work constructively and "it would be a great pity if we were to see matters get inflamed at all. The situation in Fiji requires us to move forwards not backwards".

His select briefing put some media noses out of joint, especially those at Prime TV, Stuff and other real-time news websites. Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper was also outraged and Radio NZ International could rightly claim to have the expertise and reporters to handle the story well. It too was left out of the initial loop.

It is not a tactic that Mr McCully has to himself. Labour leader Phil Goff, when he was trade minister, alerted the same two television channels and Radio NZ days in advance so they could get reporters in place and shots of him shaking hands with the great and the good when the United States announced it would enter talks on a P4 free trade deal. That, too, got right up rival media outlets' noses.

Of course it is a fraught area, bordering on jealousy or special pleading, to claim that individual reporters, through their contacts or hard work, should not get a break over others in a competitive market.

It happens all the time. Newspapers get advance copies of speeches to report on an "it's understood" basis that leaves other branches of the media out in the cold.

However, matters of national and diplomatic importance are generally seen as of a different order.

But leaving media management to one side, what was Mr McCully trying to achieve by publicly backing Fiji's volatile leader into a corner?

Not only did he have to handle the fallout over Dreaver's problems, he also had to negotiate with self-appointed Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama over the substantive issue: the threat to expel acting high commissioner Caroline McDonald unless the travel ban is relaxed so George Nacewa - the son of the private secretary to Fiji's president - can continue to study at Massey University.

It is a statement of the obvious that Mr McCully is not a stupid man or even a man who does not plan and strategise before he acts.

So why the covert use of megaphone diplomacy?

Perhaps he wanted to use the media to get the message out to the wider Pacific community - though his ministry has the links to achieve that.

Perhaps he was trying to appear tough in his first major challenge in the portfolio, and feared he would appear weak if the first the public knew was when or if our diplomat was expelled? It does not seem National is considering changing Labour's stance toward Fiji - despite high expectations among the expat Fijian Indian community that a new government would soften its criticism of Commodore Bainimarama, whom they see as a champion of their political rights.

The explanation that puts Mr McCully in the best light is that he feared the story would break and he did not want Fiji to be able to get away with giving spurious reasons for expelling Ms McDonald. Those spurious reasons include allegations she had been associating with enemies of the regime and trying to undermine it.

Left unchallenged, they could have harmed New Zealand's reputation in the South Pacific in particular.

But if his aim was to avoid an expulsion of New Zealand's diplomat, he may have ensured the opposite.

- © Fairfax NZ News